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March 17
Rejection stings, but what if you could flip it into your greatest advantage?
Alice Draper, founder of Hustling Writers and host of My Rejection Story, knows that rejection isn’t just part of the game—it is the game. Diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, Alice struggled for years with imposter syndrome, social rejection, and the fear of putting herself out there. But everything changed when she set a radical goal: to get rejected 100 times in a year. What happened next? More success than she ever imagined.
In this conversation, Alice shares how growing up undiagnosed shaped her confidence, why ADHD brains are wired to fear rejection, and how she rewired her mindset to see “no” as a step toward “yes.” She dives into the science of rejection, how our ancestors depended on acceptance for survival, and why ADHD brains feel it even more intensely. Tracy and Alice also talk about harnessing rejection as a tool for success, why storytelling is a superpower, and how to shift from perfectionism to action.
Now a publicity strategist and media expert, Alice helps under-recognized women entrepreneurs land press and podcast guest spots—proving that rejection isn’t the end of the story, but the beginning of something bigger. If you’ve ever hesitated to put yourself out there for fear of failure, this episode will challenge you to rethink rejection—and maybe even celebrate it.
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"Instead of dreading a ‘no,’ I started chasing them. The more rejections I got, the more acceptances started rolling in."
- Alice Draper
"Rejections give you data. You start seeing patterns—what’s working, what isn’t. It stops being personal and starts being strategic."
- Alice Draper
"Stories hook into emotion, and that’s how we learn best"
- Alice Draper
"Every great story has conflict, resolution, and a transformation. That’s how we connect as humans. It’s also how we grab attention in an overstimulated world."
- Alice Draper
"Now I see rejection as proof that I’m playing big, that I’m putting myself out there. If you’re not getting rejected, you’re not aiming high enough."
- Alice Draper
"The faster you get rejected, the faster you refine your approach—and the faster you get where you want to go."
- Alice Draper
"A ‘no’ today doesn’t mean ‘no forever’—it means ‘not right now.’ And that’s an open door, not a closed one."
- Alice Draper
- Alice Draper, founder of Hustling Writers and host of "My Rejection Story" podcast, was formally diagnosed with ADHD in her thirties, though her brother's earlier diagnosis had already raised her awareness about her own symptoms.
- Growing up in South Africa, Alice was academically above average but consistently received feedback that she wasn't "living up to her potential," as she struggled with focus, class attendance, and completing assignments in a timely manner.
- Despite her academic capabilities, Alice experienced significant social challenges, often feeling like an outsider in friend groups and developing patterns of masking her true self to fit in, which led to feelings of rejection that would later influence her career path.
[20:00 - 40:00] Education, Career Path, and ADHD Strengths
- In university, Alice found academic success by focusing on essay-based subjects where her writing talents could shine and avoiding more test-oriented courses that required memorization.
- Her ADHD traits became an advantage after graduation when she entered the freelance world, as her ability to experiment with different approaches and think outside conventional structures helped her earn more than peers who struggled with the lack of external structure.
- Alice recognizes her father likely had undiagnosed ADHD, which meant her parents were more understanding of her challenges than many other families might have been, helping her develop a more positive relationship with her neurodivergence.
[40:00 - 56:00] Rejection Resilience and Storytelling Strategies
- Alice transformed her relationship with rejection through a "100 rejections" challenge, where she tracked her pitches to publications with the goal of collecting rejections rather than acceptances.
- This approach led her to increase her writing output by 50-80%, produce more work with less perfectionism, and collect valuable data about which pitches were successful, ultimately leading to publications in major outlets like HuffPost and Refinery29.
- She developed the concept of "champagne rejections" - responses that include praise and specific feedback despite being a "no" - and created a rejection wall beside her desk as a visual reminder of her progress and resilience, demonstrating how ADHD brains can transform perceived weaknesses into strategic strengths.
- Website: hustlingwriters.com
- Instagram: alicedraper
- LinkedIn: alice-m-draper
- Podcast: hustlingwriters.com
- Course: hustlingwriters.com
